Want a peek into our grocery cart? Here’s how I’m grocery shopping and feeding eight people on the cheap. This post may contain affiliate links. When you make a purchase through those links, I am paid a small amount in advertising fees. Thanks for your support. I really appreciate it. July has been a month […]

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Make lunch time super simple and totally delicious with this Protein Box, aka DIY Bistro Box. Packed with good stuff, it won’t break the bank. In my early days of blogging when my kids were little and I needed to leave the house to be able to string three words together in peace, I would often […]

Slow Cooking & Kitchen Efficiency

Food shouldn't be complicated. Or bad for you. Or expensive. I'm working to craft good cheap eats that we can both enjoy. You can read more about this site here. Check out my cookbooks if you're needing some budget-friendly inspiration. Read about how to make healthy eating work for you here.

Yesterday we talked about ways to be more efficient in the kitchen. Efficiency, I clarified, as being tasty and nutritious results without a lot of waste. One of the ways that I save time in the kitchen is by using the slow cooker.

One of the things that I love about a slow cooker is that you can do your prep work in the morning and then not have to spend much time or thought about dinner later in the day when tummies are starting to rumble. Sure, there might be some last minute futzing, but generally speaking, you’re good to go.

Currently, I own three different sized slow cookers that I use on a weekly basis. And during a freezer cooking session, I always have at least one, if not two Crockpots, going at the same time. (Yes, mine really are Crockpots.)

I find that by using the slow cooker, I have delegated a large portion of the meal prep to one of my kitchen “servants” and I can spend the time on something else. I particularly appreciate the slow cooker for braising large cuts of meats, like these:

Comments

I don’t think I could live without my slow cooker. One of my favorites right now is a venison (or beef) stroganoff. It cooks all day with condensed soup, then you stir in cream cheese and sour cream at the end. It’s a kid-approved, no-fail recipe that also doesn’t require much work on my end to prep. Can’t beat that!

I’ve already got my slow cooker going this morning. I put in some country ribs w/ BBQ sauce to have with Texas toast and corn on the cob tonight. Should be good! : ) I plan to cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker next week using your instructions. Thank you!

I use mine for beef tips. I use whatever beef is on sale. Cut it up to where it is like stew meat. You put that in the crock pot and mix up 2 cups of brown gravy mix. Pour this on top and cook on low 6-8 hours or high for about 4 hours. I serve this with rice and have a vegetable or salad on the side. It is so good!

I also use my crock port for beans and soups and stews and so much more. In fact, I just got another one yesterday. =) Love them!

Best thing ever for those nights with choir practices or games/practices. I’ve learned how to fix beans and double the batches and freeze my beans…no more canned beans! Last night we had homemade bbq baked beans in the crockpot. It made enough for last night plus 4 packages for the freezer!

Since I have VERY little ones, I use all of my slow cookers to do my freezer cooking easily. I make my spaghetti/pizza sauce in my 6qt slow cooker and then divide it out and freeze …. Make EVERY soup in the crockpot, doubling the recipe so I can freeze at least half.

My kids call my slow cooker the bean pot because that’s what we cook in it most often. It also makes a great way to make soup or cook a pot roast, as you said. I need some kid friendly slow cooker recipes, because I think that is one tool they will definitely want to take with them and know how to use when they leave home!

I want to get better at using my crockpot. I make beans and chili in it, but other than that is sets on my shelf. All of the old crockpot recipes I inherited relied on canned soups and such. Since I no longer cook that way, I’m a bit at a loss. I look forward to learning some new crockpot recipes.

@April@5kids&anacre, You can find lots of good slow cooker recipes on allrecipes.com, or you can get books on healthy slow cooking. There’s another website, that’s something like 365 days of slow cooking and she has a cookbook too–sorry, I forget the name right now, but she has 365 or more slow cooker recipes on the site.

My current 2 favorite recipes are both from Rick Bayless’s “Mexican Everyday”: Yucatecan Pork and Chicken Veracruzana. Absolutely fabulous Mexican food, easy to throw together, and it smells delicious all day while it’s cooking. I used to use it mostly for cooking beans, but since I got a pressure cooker, I tend to use that for beans instead since it doesn’t require so much forethought and I think it uses less energy.

I use it for the things above–chili, soup, chicken, etc. Also, I like to use it as Jessica mentioned, to prepare meat ahead of the meal assembly. For me, that mostly means chicken or steak with a cup or so of mild salsa, cooking on low. I use that for burritos or “oven fried” chimichangas from Home-Ec 101.com hours later. The beef is very good, but the chicken is much quicker. Today I am using an easy recipe–chicken breasts, potatoes cut up, carrots with chicken gravy mixed in. I used chicken gravy I made from slow cooker whole chicken pan juices that I had frozen.

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